Making Of

This is for Page 166, a nice simple splash page.  We’ll begin with the process of how Juan and I work.  We work on ten pages at a time.  It seems to work best this way as there’s enough buffer time to finish another ten pages.  Sometimes things come up and there’s a delay, but that’s life.

I start by plotting the pages very loosely.  For scripting, I use Final Draft.  I use FD because I like not having to write character names multiple times and the format is useful.  The format stays even when I convert it to .TXT.  Here’s Page 166:

 

 

The picture is from the Scripts Pro app, which used FDX files.  It makes for a better picture than the boring looking text of the FD program.

Yes, the mutant’s name is MUTANT 3.  I’m sure you could guess what the other two mutants were called.  I’m not saying that the mutants don’t have names.  In fact, the two pig riding mutants that are behind the Stranger in the beginning have names.  I know I have plans for them.  Mutant #3 not so much, at least not at the current moment.  There could come a time when I would want to tell a backstory on this mutant, then I’d give him a real name.

I should note that the Stranger is called THE STRANGER in the script.  He will have a name someday.

You may notice that I don’t give much character description for the newly introduced mutant.  I take care of this when I email Juan the pages.  Here’s the bulletpoints I sent:

 

  • -Mutant #3 is a large hulking creature.
  • -He has a small baby-like arm and a massive arm with a blade made out a bone growing out of the forearm.
  • -Long neck, ugly head.
  • -When he runs, he leads with his small arm side.

 

I also sent him a sketch of what I’m looking for:

 

 

Okay, look, this is why I just type letters on a keyboard.  I’m an awful artist.  Even Juan said, “Your drawing is not beautiful…”  Could you imagine me drawing Fighting Stranger?  I wouldn’t make it two pages before people begged me to stop.

Juan gets what I was going for and sends me this character sketch:

 

 

Much better.  I send him some extra notes, like explaining that the mutant’s blade doesn’t retract back.  Then Juan begins thumbnailing the pages as he reads the script:

 

 

This is actually the first time I’ve seen one of his thumbnails.  I trust Juan’s artistic judgment.  If he wants to add an extra panel, I let him do it.  There have been a couple of miscommunication issues, but we’re two people from different countries, so it happens.

Next, Juan pencils the page on 10.5 X 8 paper:

 

 

Then inks:

 

 

Finally, he scans it, cleans up the extra pencil lines and does his color magic in Photoshop:

 

 

Now I get the 300dpi files and off to Illustrator I go to letter.  I use the font Jack Armstrong from Blambot.com for human dialog:

 

 

You’ll notice that I added an extra line.  It happens.  Sometimes less, more times more.

And the final touch is placing the art in a frame, so each page is the same size:

 

 

I reduce the size to 900 X 675 and save in JPG and it’s uploading I go.

And there it is.  Next step is to make this thing into a physical book.